The present invention relates generally to systems used for reporting product defects to maintenance personnel and tracking product repairs. More particularly, the invention relates to a paperless system for handling enroute equipment problems and repairs, especially in connection with railway locomotives and cars.
Railway trains consist of one or more locomotives and cars that periodically experience one or more equipment problems while enroute to a destination. For example, on a passenger train, it would not be uncommon for a dining car to have a oven door that is hard to keep closed; a sleeper car in which a bathroom faucet is leaky, or a room in which a light is burned out. In the past, on-board crew personnel identified such problems by completing a written report which was kept permanently in the car and eventually examined (if not otherwise lost or misplaced) by a repairman at a downline maintenance facility when the train reached its final destination. The lengthy reporting process required on-board personnel to spend a considerable amount of time in writing the report, which included providing car ID information, a description and location of the problem, employee information of on-board personnel supplying the written report, etc. Apart from the time factor, report illegibility was also a problem. These written reports necessitated problems for down- line maintenance personnel as well. In addition to attempting to interpret what were often illegible reports, the maintenance personnel had to prepare written reports as well, describing the type of repair made. Often, the problems identified in the on-board personnel generated reports could be acted upon by maintenance personnel until after the locomotive or car departed from the location of the maintenance facility. This necessitated a time intensive search for the locomotive or car in order to identify the next downline maintenance facility at which the repair could be made. The problem of identifying a next-in-line facility was further exacerbated if the locomotive or car was re-assigned to a different train.
It is accordingly one object of the present invention to handle enroute equipment problems and repairs in a paperless process.
Another object of the invention is to enable on-board personnel to report equipment problems using a cellular phone, railphone or regular telephone.
Another object is to enable on-board personnel to describe the problem in their own words in as much detail as warranted without completion of any paperwork.
Still another object is to enable on-board personnel reporting a particular problem to subsequently follow the progress of repair.
Still another object is to enable mechanics to have immediate access to reported problems so that the mechanics can prepare for problems on a train well in advance of arrival.
Still another object is to enable mechanics to call in the repair and describe in detail what was done to fix the problem without necessitating the preparation of a written report by the mechanic.
Yet a further object is to provide an interactive defect reporting system in which the system updates a nationwide master system which keeps track of all trains so that anyone who has access to the master system can identify reported equipment problems for an inbound train or unit.
A further object is to enable the interactive defect reporting system to update itself by accessing current information from the master system in order to identify next-in-line repair facilities to which an inbound train having an unrepaired equipment problem is travelling to.
Yet a further object is to provide an interactive defect reporting system capable of updating repair codes used in the master system so equipment problem histories can be easily generated.
The present invention concerns an interactive defect reporting system for handling enroute equipment problems and repairs in a streamlined paperless process. The system enables on-board train personnel to report equipment problems using a cellular phone, railphone or a regular telephone. After calling the system, the on-board personnel describes the problem in their own words in as much detail as necessary without generating any paperwork. The interactive defect reporting system then assigns a unique xe2x80x98Trouble Ticketxe2x80x99 identification number to the report and this same number is used with respect to all subsequent repairs.
In the preferred embodiment of this system, the Trouble Tickets are immediately available to all downline maintenance facilities such as by facsimile. Preferably, as soon as a Trouble Ticket is generated as a result of a reported equipment problem, a facsimile transmission is automatically generated which identifies that a Trouble Ticket has just been generated for a particular train and unit (i.e., locomotive or car) being identified. The date and time of the report is included with the-faxed information as well as the ticket number and a toll-free or other number that a mechanic or other interested user may contact to obtain information. A mechanic in a downline maintenance facility can immediately listen to the Trouble Ticket and can therefore prepare for problems on the train well in advance of its arrival.
Once a problem is fixed, in whole or in part, the mechanic may call in the repair and describe in detail what was done to fix the problem. The mechanic also determines whether the reported problem is in fact a problem requiring repair. On-board personnel may listen to the repairs or request a fax copy of the Trouble Ticket which the interactive defect reporting system of the present invention sends both immediately and automatically. In this manner, most problems may be fixed within twenty-four hours of the initial report.
The interactive defect reporting system of the present invention is preferably designed to interface with an existing nationwide computerized control system utilized by the assignee of the present invention. This system is known as ARROW/OMS which is utilized to contain all information with respect to all trains and units in the assignee""s inventory. The master system also includes a file of OMS repair codes. The interactive defect reporting system of the present invention is preferably linked to update the ARROW/OMS master system so that everyone who has access to the ARROW system can also access the Trouble Ticket numbers for any train or unit. The interactive defect reporting system of the invention preferably also updates the OMS repair codes so that equipment problem histories can be easily generated.
A further feature of the interactive defect reporting system of the present invention is the capability of enabling users of the system to receive written descriptions of the problem reports as well as the repair reports on a Trouble Ticket specific basis. Accordingly, a feature of this invention is the ability of a transcription clerk to listen to the voice message problem report or the repair report, respectively generated by on-board personnel or the mechanic, to enable transcription of the verbal report into a computer stored text message.
Still another feature of the present invention involves the capability of accessing advanced reporting features of the interactive defect reporting system to enable users to obtain very detailed information concerning equipment problems and repairs including, but not limited to:
tickets without responses;
equipment histories by type;
train histories;
facility repair histories;
tickets reported by a specific crew member; and
tickets repaired by a specific mechanic.
Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description, wherein only the preferred embodiments of the invention are shown and described, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated of carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modifications in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawing and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.